


Diversionary Tactics

by goddess_julie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Pining Liam, Pining Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 16:37:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1825189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddess_julie/pseuds/goddess_julie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn loves Harry.  Liam loves Louis.  Harry and Louis love other people.  Zayn and Liam help each other nurse broken hearts and end up healing their own without realizing it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Diversionary Tactics

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written in this fandom. I'm not British and tried my best to Brit Pick it but... well yeah. Not sure where it came from, just opened up my notepad on my ipad and started to write. Any/all mistakes are my own. Hope you like it!

It started off as a diversionary tactic. Liam mostly clung to Zayn because they were the closest in their personalities. Liam was shy. Quiet. Tentative. He was the one that was the most scared of being left out and abandoned by the others. Zayn was shy. Quiet. Pensive. He was the only one that wasn't white and thus, most afraid of the judgement which would then result in being left out and abandoned. They formed an immediate bond based on their unspoken insecurities, as though they understood each other immediately.

Harry was stunning. Gorgeously beautiful and completely unaware of his effect on anyone and everything in his wake. He had wide green eyes, plush lips and dimples that Zayn was convinced you could lost in if you tried hard enough.

Louis was loud, confident and a natural born leader. He wasn't afraid of anyone and let that fact be known from the start. He knew without a doubt his place in the world and wouldn't settle for less than the recognition he deserved. He was fiercely devoted to those around him and had the self-confidence everyone wished they had but couldn’t muster. Liam was partially afraid of Louis and partially in awe of him, which more often than not left him stunned silent when they were ever in the same room.

Niall was Niall. Blonde. Blue eyed. Gorgeous. Irish and so happy, so genuine that even if you tried, you couldn't find any way to hate him. Zayn and Liam sat in Zayn's room one night, hiding from the world and talking about everything. After a number of drafts, a number of edited revisions came up with a list of things they hated about Niall Horan. There was only one entry.

-we can't find anything to hate about him and we hate ourselves for not being able to find one fault

The two friends fell asleep giggling and curled into one another, promising their next 'meeting' would yield better results. 

It never did.

The five of them had all met on the first day in their first year of university. Liam and Louis had bumped into each other while checking out the school's football booth at the Freshman Fair. They hadn't really spoken, but both reached for the pen at the same time and as they battled for it, began a friendly (eventually friendly) rivalry between the two.

Liam then met Niall on his way to his dorm room after signing up for a few extracurricular when the blonde was having a near melt down at not having access to cafeteria food twenty four seven. He whined about being a crap cook in the small kitchens that students had access to and wasn’t sure he’d survive long enough to make his family proud. 

When Louis arrived at his own dorm room that first afternoon, he'd been introduced to his roommate Zayn who was hiding in their room because he'd knocked on their neighbor's door to ask if he could borrow something, Louis wasn't entirely sure what he'd said as he was flailing and an impressive shade of red, only to find their neighbour Harry open the door completely naked and unashamed of his unclothed body. Zayn’s eyes were partially covered by his hands, an impressive shade of red on his cheeks and Louis cackling at Harry’s lack of modesty and impressive cock. Harry had shrugged and confessed he didn’t like the constraints of clothes. 

Eventually, with Liam and Louis making the football team, Niall unable to stay away from Liam who promised to not let him starve his first year away from his family, and Zayn getting over Harry's inability to stay clothed for any long periods of time, they became a close group of friends.

It was Zayn who noticed Liam's attraction to Louis. Liam argued that it was a friendly rivalry and he was probably more afraid of Louis than anything, which was why they fought as much as they did, but Zayn understood. 

"Kind of like how you're hot for Harry?" Liam scoffed one night when he'd had enough of Zayn trying to get him to open up. What Liam hadn't expected was for Zayn's olive skin to flush a pink hue and him to stutter as he changed the conversation.

After that night it was just known between them. Liam didn't have to explain how he felt for Louis because he knew Zayn understood. And vice versa. It was almost perfect until it wasn't.

Louis started dating a girl named Eleanor, and in the process crushed Liam's heart. It wasn't as though Liam had told Louis about his feelings, or admitted how much he liked it when Louis would cuddle up with him, but somewhere, deep down, once they'd entered their second year of university and all moved into a house together, he hoped things would progress. And they did, for Eleanor. What made it worse was that Louis hadn't even realized Liam's feelings, or his broken heart.

The night of Louis' two month anniversary with Eleanor, the smaller man had paraded through their communal living area in an array of clothes. It was a special night, a milestone for them and he wanted to look perfect. Knowing what it was doing to his best friend, Zayn had ordered all of Liam's favourite food, queued up the entire DC universe movie collection to watch and set up a whole fort in the living room for them to hang out and to help ease Liam's broken heart. What they hadn’t known at the time was it would become a pity party for two.

Louis had been gone nearly an hour when Harry came out of his room dressed up, looking part excited and part nervous. Zayn, with a soft voice asked where Harry was going. They were both not prepared for his answer. "Remember the grad student I was telling you about? The one who I met working at the radio station?"

Liam nodded, slowly looking over at the expression on Zayn's face. The other man was hiding his pain well but Liam could see it. How Harry didn’t was a mystery to Liam since it was so obviously written across his beautiful features. Liam squeezed Zayn's hand affectionately. "Yeah Haz,"

"Well, there is this band that we both love playing in town tonight so we're going to go. A proper date finally."

"Finally?" Zayn squeaked.

Harry flashed his widest grin and nodded. "I've been trying to bag him for months but he keeps saying he's too old for me and I need to find someone my own age. But fuck it, the heart wants what the heart wants and mine wants him."

"Heart?" Liam questioned with a raised eyebrow. Zayn’s hold got tighter in his hand and Liam squeezed his fingers back affectionately. He was proud that Zayn was holding it together as well as he was, considering that Harry had never mentioned being interested in someone and Zayn was still hoping that he would come around and realize Zayn’s feelings for him.

He got a grin in response. "Heart. Dick. Ass. Same thing. But seriously, I really like this guy. He's perfect and I can see myself with him. Long term."

Moments later Harry rushed out without a second glance back to see the devastation in his wake. Liam held Zayn as he finally let a few tears fall. Liam ran his fingers through his hair until finally they couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic they were.

Thus began their upped game of diversionary tactics. Where they hung out a lot before, they became inseparable. Zayn had gone with Liam to get his first tattoo, a spur of the moment decision that he needed something for him, to regain the part of him he’d lost pining over Louis. When everyone found out that they’d gone without telling anyone, there had been a round of indignation. Once the first had healed, they all (minus Niall who went for support but was not being marked permanently thank YOU very much mates) went for more ink and made it a group bonding exercise.

The night Harry came home happier than ever after a particularly wonderful date with Nick, Zayn found his way into Liam's bed for a comforting cuddle. When Liam would wake up to find Eleanor making Louis breakfast in bed, he would suggest to Zayn that they go out and explore a part of town they'd never been to before.

It was a week after Louis and Eleanor's first year anniversary that Louis approached Liam one afternoon while he was getting ready for a run. 

"How have you been?"

Liam looked up with a smile on his face. At some point, the pain in his heart as he looked directly at Louis had lessened and he felt nothing but brotherly fondness for the man before him. "Okay. Busy but midterms are always murder."

"Can..." Louis looked almost nervous which caused for Liam to pause. "Are you busy?"

Liam shook his head, concerned for his friend. He had never seen Louis this awkward, so unsure of himself and he wondered if there was something going on that he wasn’t aware of. "I was going to go for a run but I can not … is everything okay?"

"Yeah, s’great. Just …mind if I join? I feel...” Louis paused and took a deep breath. “Just that it's been forever since we've done something, just you and I and I miss you. Zayn has been hogging you and ... I miss you."

Liam laughed and pulled Louis in for a hug, relieved that it wasn’t anything serious. Previously he would have been elated, hopeful at the physical contact between the two of them, but now it just felt comfortable. He wondered how long it had been that way and how he had never noticed it until now. 

"I'm right here mate," Liam said affectionately. "I'm always right here."

It wasn’t until they had returned from their run and were cooling down when Louis surprised Liam to the point of stunned silence, something which had not happened in a very long time.

"We should go on a double date one night."

Liam smiled. "Okay, find someone for me and we'll join you and Eleanor."

Louis looked at him, confused. "What about Zayn?"

"So a triple date? I'm sure we can find someone for Zayn." His shoes flung across the room to the corner and he pulled his sweaty shirt over his shoulders, thinking that he definitely needed a shower before he did anything. The smile dropped from his face when he saw Louis' eyes widen.   
Louis looked around nervously with an apologetic expression on his face. "Did you guys... oh damn. I'm sorry, I didn't realize... Fuck."

"Did we what?"

"You and Zayn? I'm sorry Liam; do you need to talk about it? Never mind, I just ... shit. I'm going to go. Forget I said anything."

Before Liam could question the shorter man he was alone. Louis left him more confused than anything and what was worse was that no one else was home to talk about it with.

A day later he received a text from Zayn.

_HELP! Harry is in mother hen mode and brought me ice cream and chick flicks and is trying to help me mend my broken heart._

Liam couldn't help but laugh. _Where are you"_ he texted back. Zayn’s reply was almost immediate.

_In the loo. I ran in here to hide. He said something about doing our nails and moisturizing and when I'm ready to talk about it I can go to him. Apparently he heard from Lou who heard from you and now they're all worried._

Liam's stomach began to flutter. _I didn't say anything mate._

_Then what the fuck. He wants to know why I didn't tell him about my break up._

_Wait, you broke up with someone?_ A familiar sense of disappointment and sadness washed over him at the thought of Zayn seeing someone. Someone not him. 

_Of course not._

_So you didn't break up?_

_I'M NOT SEEING ANYONE LIAM JAMES PAYNE! WHEN HAVE YOU SEEN ME DATE SOMEONE!_

Before Liam could respond, his phone was ringing. Zayn's voice was soft and harsh, "what the fuck did you tell Lou? Harry said you said that you were going to try and find me a date and now they're convinced my heart is broken."

Liam thought back to the conversation he'd had with Louis. "He wanted me to double date with him and El." Liam heard Zayn take in a sharp breath.

"He did? With who?"

"I don't know. I said I guess if they wanted to set me with someone I 'd go or whatever, he was saying he missed me and hadn't spent much time with me lately. So I said sure, he said what about you and I said we'd have to find someone for you too I guess."

"And?" Zayn whispered. "There had to be more."

"He said 'what about you and Zayn and then said 'oh did you' and then ran off. He was acting right mad.”

"Did we what?"

"I DON'T KNOW!!!"

"Well fix it, because Harry is talking about us exploring our feelings and will probably want to do some naked yoga and I don't want that. Naked yoga with Harry is the last thing I want to be doing tonight."

With a chuckle, Liam pictured the expression on Zayn’s face, just seeing his nose crinkle up in disgust. "I remember a time when all you wanted was to do naked yoga with Harry."

Liam heard Zayn pause for a moment. "Huh. I don't." And then whispered his goodbye before ending the call.

~*~*~*~*~

A few days later Zayn and Liam were in Liam's room watching a movie on his laptop when Niall came in and stopped in his tracks. He had half a sub sandwich in one hand and a bag of chips in the other, a look of confusion on his face.

"I heard you two broke up. You don't look broken up, but I heard you did." Without waiting for a response, Niall pulled Liam's desk chair out with his foot and sat down, smiling at the two men on the bed.

"You heard what?" Zayn asked, giving Niall a lopsided smile and shrugging in confusion to Liam who was just as confused as his best friend.

"Harry.” Niall said slowly, as if there was something wrong with the two of them. “Harry told me that Louis told him that Liam told Louis that you two broke up and weren't dating anymore. I told them that you two were just fucking with them, but they didn't believe me. I guess I win." 

In a flash, Niall put down his chips, pulled his phone from his pocket, snapped a picture and sent it. All the while Zayn and Liam were still staring at him in surprise.

"Wait what? We're not..."

"Together," Liam finished Zayn's sentence.

"So you broke up but are still friends?"

"We didn't break up."

Niall turned his head first to Liam and then Zayn, looking back and forth at one another before bursting into hysterical laughter.

"You're serious. Oh shit, you're actually fucking serious." Before the two friends could say anything, Niall stood up and walked out of Liam's room, his laughter echoing behind him. Just as he disappeared, Niall poked his head into Liam’s room one last time before laughing harder and leaving them alone in his wake.

"What is he talking about?" Liam asked softly. He looked at his best friend who looked as lost as he felt.

"I don't know."

They woke up the next morning in nearly the same position they fell asleep in, Zayn curled up against Liam's chest, their legs tangled and sharing one pillow. Once they both were fully awake and ready for breakfast, they headed out to the kitchen only to find Louis, Harry and Niall waiting for them. A pot of tea sat in the middle of the table and the three men talking softly with Harry's MacBook open.

None of them looked like they'd gotten any sleep the night before. Zayn and Liam shared a worried look between them.

“Everything okay boys?” Liam asked. He handed Zayn a cup of coffee before grabbing a mug for his own tea. 

"Niall tells us that you both haven't broken up," Louis started in his most business like tone once Liam and Zayn sat down.

Liam and Zayn could only both nod their heads slowly in affirmation.

"But he says that you haven't broken up because you both are deluded into thinking you haven't been dating for almost two years," Harry responded. There was a definite note of wariness in his voice, his eyes shifting nervously between the two of them.

Just as Liam was about to argue and felt Zayn tense up beside him Niall holds up his hand.

"Just hear us out. I can't say when I thought you two got together, but I know for a fact I don't remember you two not being together," Niall started gently. He looked as though he was trying not to spook Liam or Zayn.

"You two have always been close, a unit. Which was why I really started to chat up Nick to be honest," Harry admitted. Both Liam and Zayn's jaws dropped as they looked at each other before staring at Harry, who shrugged. "I knew I had to get over my crush on Liam so Louis told me to open my eyes and look around. Obviously Liam was too in love with Zayn to even think about anyone else..."

Liam felt his stomach fall to his knees. He was almost afraid to look at Zayn but was shocked when he saw his best friend smirking at him. 

"Finally I just started hanging out with Nick and he made me realize that maybe you and I weren't meant to be, that I was meant to be with him like you're meant to be with Zayn."

"Louis," Zayn said with a laugh.

"What?" Louis asked.

"Liam was in love with Louis, not me."

It was Louis and Harry's turn for their jaws to drop. Liam felt his whole face on fire as Louis looked at him in surprise. “What?”

"It's true."

"But..."

"You're straight, I know."

"Bi actually," Harry responded with shrug. "He's bi. And was hot for Zayn who was completely arse over tit for Liam so when Eleanor asked him out he said yeah."

Liam shook his head, unable to control the laugh that bubbled up in his throat before pointing at Harry. "You, he's arse over tit for you mate."

Harry's eyes widened as Zayn shook his head "WAS arse over tit for you. I'm over it now."

"Hey, you can't just get over me like that," Harry’s lips curl into a pout which causes them all to give a small chuckle.

"It's been two years Harry, I think it wasn't just like that," Zayn admitted softly.

Niall's laughter caught everyone off guard and lessened the tension in the room. He turned Harry's computer around so that Liam and Zayn could see what was on the screen, which consists of a picture of them and a scrolling marquis that read 'The Love That Is Ziam"

“Well, after I spoke to the two of you last night, so much about this whole issue made sense. So we sat up all night, pooled together from all of our Facebook accounts, twitters, hard drives and phones and compiled a slideshow of the past two years of you not dating. And sure, you think you haven't been dating but it is fucking clear as day that you're both in love with each other,” Niall smiled at them both gently, as though knowing how precarious the situation is and what exactly had been confessed.

“We're all going to fuck off for the night so you two have the house to yourselves until tomorrow,” Louis looks over at Liam and shakes his head with a loving smile. “And when you two sort your shit out, you and I are going to have a talk.”

With a press of Louis' lips to the tops of both Liam and Zayn's head. 

“All of us should talk,” Harry said softly, looking at Liam and then Zayn and finally at his shoes. “Like, really talk.” He followed Louis out the door motioning for Niall to join them. And then once again, it was just Liam and Zayn, alone. Liam wasn't sure when he'd taken Zayn's hand but was surprised to find their fingers thread together on his lap between them.

Wordlessly, Zayn pressed play on the slideshow.

With each picture they saw what they'd been missing for two years. The closeness between them. How more often than not they were looking at each other, not the camera. How they were always touching. How often they had been photographed asleep, curled together with smiles on their faces. How complete Zayn made his life, how he couldn’t remember a time when it wasn’t just the two of them together, and how everyone else just became background players in their lives.

"I don't know when it happened," Zayn admitted with a squeeze to Liam's hand. He held his breath until Liam squeezed back.

"I know." Liam met Zayn's gaze and smiled. "I really want to kiss you," he admitted.

Zayn leaned in and gently brought their mouths together in a gentle, hesitant kiss. "I really want to do naked yoga with you."

Liam let out a sharp burst of laughter and in that moment he knew that everything would be okay. This was his best friend. This was his soul mate. This was the person he'd been in love with for longer than he could remember. With steady hands Liam cupped Zayn’s jaw in his palm, stroking his cheek. “I love you.”

Zayn’s lips curled into the most beautiful smile Liam had ever seen and his heart raced knowing it was for him. “I am so in love with you Liam.”

The silence between them was interrupted by the soft vibrations of Liam’s phone on the table between them. 

_I swear to god you two better be fucking. If we have to wait 2 more years for you to fuck we’ll all die of blue balls_

“Fucking Niall,” Zayn said with an embarrassed laugh. Liam could only shrug.

“He’s not wrong though.”

“Your room or mine?”

“Who says we can’t do both.”

Finis


End file.
